Considering buying a boggo 981, anything I'd miss?
Discussion
Royal Jelly said:
Schmed said:
Usual forum myths.
718 residuals have always been talked down along with the engine, and according to PH any of these unloved four pots would soon be worthless, which just hasn’t happened. Where you can lose money is on options from new, since you rarely see many of these reflected the trade prices.
The engine too is actually pretty good. I came from a 981 and prefer it, it feels much quicker due to the extra torque.
Ultimately they are all low volume cars and will retain value well (as they have Porsche badges on the front...)
There’s nothing mythical about the fact that there is now pricing crossover between the 981S and 718S. This has been a gradual convergence, but is happening. 718 residuals have always been talked down along with the engine, and according to PH any of these unloved four pots would soon be worthless, which just hasn’t happened. Where you can lose money is on options from new, since you rarely see many of these reflected the trade prices.
The engine too is actually pretty good. I came from a 981 and prefer it, it feels much quicker due to the extra torque.
Ultimately they are all low volume cars and will retain value well (as they have Porsche badges on the front...)
I agree that they make excellent cars, and will depreciate more kindly than most other marques. I’d love one as a daily (but not as a weekender). The fact remains that 981s have held their value and well specced ones have appreciated and 718s 2.0/2.5s have universally depreciated over the last 12 months.
Voodoo Blue said:
In my experience our 2015 2.7 981 Cayman's value appears to have stabilised over the last 18 months and our 2019 2.0 718 Boxster has lost about £7k in the same period. We bought the 981 new and the depreciation in the first year was pretty steep as you would expect and I'm not seeing any real difference to the depreciation we've seen on the 718. I suspect the difference over the last 18 months is the fact that each car is at a different point in their relative depreciation curves. So I'd say that there is no real evidence that 718 depreciation is better/worse that the equivalent 981 unless someone can show me any real evidence to the contrary. As for the convergence of prices with later 981s and early 718s as proof, have a look at late 987s and early 981s and you'll see a similar picture.
I agree to an extent, but I think the fact that costs are overlapping suggests the depreciation curves aren’t quite the same. Late well-specced 987s don’t command what we’ll-specced 981s do - at least not yet. As Cossers said - they’re cars made for driving, which every Cayman does magnificently. I didn’t mean to derail this into a(nother) residuals thread. Hopefully residuals aren’t anyone’s main driver for picking one - it certainly wasn’t with mine.
You can’t go wrong. I wouldn’t be deterred by mileage, but I’d spec what I’ve mentioned previously in this thread.
Royal Jelly said:
I think the fact that costs are overlapping suggests the depreciation curves aren’t quite the same.
That happens every time there's a model change. The price range between "base" cars and a "loaded" cars so so big that a used car from the old range may cost more than a brand new car from the new range.Even within one model range it's common to be able to buy a new base car cheaper than a used, loaded car.
The only certainty is that options depreciate more quickly than the car to which they're attached.
AlexNJ89 said:
Something to note is that all cars have held or increased in value over the last 12 months.
I still have the details of a Jag F-Type I looked at for £33k 12 months ago, that same spec and mileage is £36k now.
I agree, the current market seems a bit more flexible than in the past when things were normal. Last April our 718 was worth £12K less than now from WBAC almost certainly based on the effects of the first lockdown. When we start emerging from the current lockdown who knows what the effect on prices/values will be especially when you take into account the potential shortage of new cars because of chip shortages etc. It's certainly possible that prices will increase if there is a shortage of particular models or drop like a stone if the general economy slumps. I still have the details of a Jag F-Type I looked at for £33k 12 months ago, that same spec and mileage is £36k now.
My conclusion to that would be that if you've got the money to buy what you want and you're reasonably safe from an income perspective then buy what you want based on what you want and ignore any opinions on prices/values between model generations simply because no one really knows what the future holds so you might as well enjoy yourself while you can.
Voodoo Blue said:
I agree, the current market seems a bit more flexible than in the past when things were normal. Last April our 718 was worth £12K less than now from WBAC almost certainly based on the effects of the first lockdown. When we start emerging from the current lockdown who knows what the effect on prices/values will be especially when you take into account the potential shortage of new cars because of chip shortages etc. It's certainly possible that prices will increase if there is a shortage of particular models or drop like a stone if the general economy slumps.
My conclusion to that would be that if you've got the money to buy what you want and you're reasonably safe from an income perspective then buy what you want based on what you want and ignore any opinions on prices/values between model generations simply because no one really knows what the future holds so you might as well enjoy yourself while you can.
Yep, that's why I'm thinking about going boggo spec and keeping it safe for now until things are more stable then stretch my budget.My conclusion to that would be that if you've got the money to buy what you want and you're reasonably safe from an income perspective then buy what you want based on what you want and ignore any opinions on prices/values between model generations simply because no one really knows what the future holds so you might as well enjoy yourself while you can.
My prediction is that when we come out of this stricter lockdown there will be a surge in people buying cars, prices will increase slightly again due to this, but the extra supply of trade ins will stop if from sky rocketing.
Then, either Rishi Sunak will axe the furlough schemes or people return to work, more people will have lost their jobs than they think. Companies can't just continue on and say to their clients "cool so err... continue where we left off yeah?".
So those who have lost their jobs will need to sell their cars which will flood the market and we'll see a bit of an economic correction overall.
AlexNJ89 said:
Voodoo Blue said:
I agree, the current market seems a bit more flexible than in the past when things were normal. Last April our 718 was worth £12K less than now from WBAC almost certainly based on the effects of the first lockdown. When we start emerging from the current lockdown who knows what the effect on prices/values will be especially when you take into account the potential shortage of new cars because of chip shortages etc. It's certainly possible that prices will increase if there is a shortage of particular models or drop like a stone if the general economy slumps.
My conclusion to that would be that if you've got the money to buy what you want and you're reasonably safe from an income perspective then buy what you want based on what you want and ignore any opinions on prices/values between model generations simply because no one really knows what the future holds so you might as well enjoy yourself while you can.
Yep, that's why I'm thinking about going boggo spec and keeping it safe for now until things are more stable then stretch my budget.My conclusion to that would be that if you've got the money to buy what you want and you're reasonably safe from an income perspective then buy what you want based on what you want and ignore any opinions on prices/values between model generations simply because no one really knows what the future holds so you might as well enjoy yourself while you can.
My prediction is that when we come out of this stricter lockdown there will be a surge in people buying cars, prices will increase slightly again due to this, but the extra supply of trade ins will stop if from sky rocketing.
Then, either Rishi Sunak will axe the furlough schemes or people return to work, more people will have lost their jobs than they think. Companies can't just continue on and say to their clients "cool so err... continue where we left off yeah?".
So those who have lost their jobs will need to sell their cars which will flood the market and we'll see a bit of an economic correction overall.
rockin said:
That happens every time there's a model change. The price range between "base" cars and a "loaded" cars so so big that a used car from the old range may cost more than a brand new car from the new range.
Even within one model range it's common to be able to buy a new base car cheaper than a used, loaded car.
The only certainty is that options depreciate more quickly than the car to which they're attached.
I dunno, I don’t recall 987s ever being worth more than equivalent 981s. Also, the gulf in used car prices between low and high spec cars suggest that while options may depreciate initially, it seems to me that certain options retain a higher percentage of their list price than the car itself. From what I can see, SC/PSE/PASM 981 cars seem to go for 3-4k more than those without. I forget exactly much their combined list price for those is, but if a base 981S originally listed at 48k-ish goes for 30k now (which seems about right), and a car with those options goes for 34-35k (again, seems about right), it would suggest that those options have depreciated less than the rest of the car. Even within one model range it's common to be able to buy a new base car cheaper than a used, loaded car.
The only certainty is that options depreciate more quickly than the car to which they're attached.
Again, all moot to a degree. I’d urge the OP to buy what they can find/afford and enjoy what is an exceptional car. But, as he’s clearly concerned about being able to move on to something else in a while and therefore suffer less depreciation, I’d suggest that a buying a car with more desirable options will depreciate less than others. At least, that seems to have held true for 981s for a while. Who knows what the future holds, but given the sheer amount of money that’s been inserted into the economy and inflation on the horizon, I wouldn’t sweat it, in pound terms.
My wife has a 2.7 Boxster, at the time I had an M4 but fell in love with hers despite the lower power; handling is amazing, and so confidence inspiring.
M4 sold a few months after & I am in a 981 CGTS, love the PSE and extra bits, but get a bigger thrill wringing the neck out of hers on the road, as can do more revs in more gears vs mine, which gets silly quick much sooner. Both cars as PDK, thought we'd be manual for both, but the drive was better.
Regardless of what you choose with a 981, you are unlikely to be disappointed. My struggle is what I would replace it with.
Good luck
M4 sold a few months after & I am in a 981 CGTS, love the PSE and extra bits, but get a bigger thrill wringing the neck out of hers on the road, as can do more revs in more gears vs mine, which gets silly quick much sooner. Both cars as PDK, thought we'd be manual for both, but the drive was better.
Regardless of what you choose with a 981, you are unlikely to be disappointed. My struggle is what I would replace it with.
Good luck
Mj2k said:
Regardless of what you choose with a 981, you are unlikely to be disappointed. My struggle is what I would replace it with.
That's it in a nutshell. Utterly brilliant cars. Although, of course, we only buy them for the cup-holders and soft touch plastics.... 
Shatteringly competent sports cars.
Holgate86 said:
However I found the car/gearbox pretty terrible on the motorway in 7th at 70-75mph there was absolutely no acceleration, and the PDK seemed to hunt between 6th and 7th, so much so that I used to put the car in "manual" and leave it in 6th. This was pretty alien to me coming from AMG products (NASP and turbo) with bags of torque and well sorted slush boxes.
Must have a fault. My 2014 981C 2.7 PDK has done around 30k motorway miles and never once wanted to hunt between 7th and 6th.Plenty of acceleration too. Have you had it looked into?
gts.981 said:
The 981 will ALWAYS be a better and more valued car than the 2.0 or 2.5 718. Always. Forever.
It has a real Porsche engine with 50% more cylinders for god sakes.
The 719 2.0/2.5 will fade into history as an aberration if not a downright abomination. Isn’t that correct Schmed......?
Ha ha, so far I've kept my 718 twice the length of time I owned my 981 and far prefer it. It has a real Porsche engine with 50% more cylinders for god sakes.
The 719 2.0/2.5 will fade into history as an aberration if not a downright abomination. Isn’t that correct Schmed......?
You can cry in your underpowered six cylinder heap when they finally go all electric.
Schmed said:
gts.981 said:
The 981 will ALWAYS be a better and more valued car than the 2.0 or 2.5 718. Always. Forever.
It has a real Porsche engine with 50% more cylinders for god sakes.
The 719 2.0/2.5 will fade into history as an aberration if not a downright abomination. Isn’t that correct Schmed......?
Ha ha, so far I've kept my 718 twice the length of time I owned my 981 and far prefer it. It has a real Porsche engine with 50% more cylinders for god sakes.
The 719 2.0/2.5 will fade into history as an aberration if not a downright abomination. Isn’t that correct Schmed......?
You can cry in your underpowered six cylinder heap when they finally go all electric.
The cycle must continue
Schmed said:
gts.981 said:
The 981 will ALWAYS be a better and more valued car than the 2.0 or 2.5 718. Always. Forever.
It has a real Porsche engine with 50% more cylinders for god sakes.
The 719 2.0/2.5 will fade into history as an aberration if not a downright abomination. Isn’t that correct Schmed......?
Ha ha, so far I've kept my 718 twice the length of time I owned my 981 and far prefer it. It has a real Porsche engine with 50% more cylinders for god sakes.
The 719 2.0/2.5 will fade into history as an aberration if not a downright abomination. Isn’t that correct Schmed......?
What’s that got to do with anything?
You can cry in your underpowered six cylinder heap when they finally go all electric.
But not ‘under-cylindered’ though eh....?
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